Welcome home, Grandma and Grandpa!
Getting to have dinner with them at the Inn,
and spending a few hours together was a great way to wrap up the March Break
holiday, but let’s recap the rest of the day first.
Mom, Dad, and I had agreed to skip Tai Chi this morning in
favor of a little extra sleep. I
actually did manage to get a few hours of down time, though it didn’t really
feel like more than a cat nap when we first woke up. The crazy Sunday morning rush kicked in
almost immediately. I helped Mom and Dad
with four toddlers, and then Rowen and Rebecca helped Mom with them – and with
Lindsay – while Dad and I headed outside for another round of shoveling. There was maybe another inch or so of the
white stuff to get off the driveway, sidewalks, van, and truck; but it didn’t
take all that long to get everything done – especially after Michael joined in
to help us.
Tim, Patrick, and Scott were the last to wake up, and the
two younger boys had needed some encouragement that Rowen and I let Ethan and
Aiden provide for them with a little constructive pouncing. Mom had the breakfast cooking well underway
by the time Dad, Michael, and I got back inside. The usual juggling act continued from there,
and my part of the circus included helping Mom with the rest of the cooking;
eating quickly so I could take a turn having a shower and getting ready for
church; and taking a turn or two watching Ethan, Ehlana, and the other younger
kids. Somehow, we all managed to be
ready to go on time; and then Mom and Dad both drove loads of kids over to the
church after Naomi and Aiden were each picked up by their parents first. Dad had four out of five of the boys with
him, and I was very happy that Rowen did not have any entertainment
opportunities that might have happened if Michael and Tim had been in the
minivan with us.
It’s Palm Sunday, so we – the kids and teens – were in the
sanctuary for more of the service than usual before being sent off to Sunday
school. The teen praise team helped out
with some of the music; some of the kids and teens were involved with the Palm
Sunday story skits; and once we were in our Sunday school classes, we split our
time between a bible lesson about Palm Sunday and more Easter weekend practices
for the kids and teens involved in some or all of the services next
weekend. There was lots of time to get
everything done because today’s service was more than an hour and a half long.
Rowen isn’t here tonight as I write this, but she’d be
reminding me that I should back up and mention that all was not well in the
land of tween when she and I walked into the sanctuary with Rebecca, Michael,
Tim, and the remainder of our little sleepover gang. We stopped to wait just inside the doors for
Mom and Dad to join us, but Lisa and Nora had been waiting for Michael and Tim;
and neither of them looked very impressed to see their boyfriends hanging out
with us. The whole sleepover news flash
went over like a ton of bricks too, so I’ll guess that any details they hear
about will just make things worse.
Tim tried to help mitigate the potential girlfriend problem
by immediately going to hang out with Nora and sit with her family, but Michael
had Ethan in his arms, and didn’t even try to pass him off to me after Lisa
joined us. They eventually went to sit
with Rebecca and his parents after Mom and Dad caught up with us, but Lisa
didn’t look at all happy for the rest of the morning.
And before I move on; new underwear day two was only a
little less weird than it was yesterday.
It took a while to get home after the service ended. Nearly everyone had driven, and that meant a
line-up in front of the church that was mostly to keep the girls from needing
to navigate slippery sidewalks in dress shoes.
Mom and Dad only had Ethan, Ehlana, Rowen and me to take home with them,
and they invited Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne to have lunch with us. Rowen’s parents were working at the store
again for the last day of the holiday weekend; so she was spending the rest of
the day with me until after the buffet dinner at the Inn. Violet was home for lunch too, but she didn’t
get home until after doing the goodbyes with Dillon and dropping him off at the
Inn.
I was hoping that her sleepover at Dillon’s house would be
of more interest to Aunt Leanne than grilling me about everything that didn’t
happen last night with Michael and Tim; but she was happy to multi-task. Having Dad, Uncle Adam, and Ethan there may
have saved me from getting teased about the parts of our shopping trip that
Aunt Leanne was most interested in – that, and the girls’ rules that prohibit
her from gossiping about those back room purchases. She had more than enough material to use
without that, though, and even though I still mostly had fun despite being one
of the main entertainment targets; I was really glad when lunch was over and
Rowen and I could escape to my room for a while.
Violet needed to pack up and head home then – especially
since she was in for a messy drive home; but we let her have that time with Mom
and Aunt Leanne while Dad and Uncle Adam took care of Ethan and Ehlana. She left for Woodvale by a quarter to two;
and Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne headed over to their place then too.
I was thinking about having a nap right about then, and
Ethan, Ehlana, and Mom did go and do that, but Rowen and I ended up going for a
slushy little bike ride instead.
That change in plans happened because Michael came over to
pick up the overnight bags that he and Rebecca had left here so they wouldn’t
need to take them to the Inn from the church. He had Tim with him, and they were going to
goof around on their bikes while Michael was on his afternoon break. Rowen was responsible for getting us invited
to go riding too, but I’ll admit that I was just as enthusiastic as she was
about showing off our new bikes and taking them out for a spin. We froze our butts off doing that, but had a
total blast until a band of rain rolled through and put an end to our
ride. Being cold and damp by the time we
got home gave Rowen yet another excuse to keep hanging out with Michael and
Tim; and Ethan and Ehlana were happy to help her out with getting them to stay
for an afternoon hot chocolate and bakery snack break that stretched out until
Michael really needed to hurry back to the Inn.
Grandma and Grandpa were delayed a bit by the weather, so
our dinner plans were pushed back to the late buffet. That gave Rowen and I time to have showers
and clean up from our bike ride; play dress up; and spend some extra time doing
our hair in braids and curls. Mom and
Dad drove us over to Grandma and Grandpa’s house when they were nearly home,
and we were there to help them upload the van and get everything inside. They needed a little time to freshen up
before we all went over to the Inn, so we
didn’t get there until nearly a half-hour after the late buffet started.
That change in plans also made it possible for Rowen’s
parents and brother to join us for dinner; and there were quite a few store
owners and their families celebrating the end of a busy March Break shopping week
by having dinner there too after closing their shops and stores for the
day. Since we hadn’t seen Grandma and
Grandpa in so long, Ethan, Ehlana, Rowen, and I got to sit at the double table
that had been pushed together for us with them, Mom and Dad, Uncle Adam and
Aunt Leanne, and Uncle Nick and Aunt Deborah.
Grandpa provided most of the dinner entertainment with his
tall – I mean travel – tales. Ethan and
Ehlana particularly enjoyed the improbable stories about their run-ins with
Hobbits in New Zealand;
Tasmanian Devils in Tasmania; and unbelievably
gigantic whales while scuba diving the Great Barrier Reef. I was happy to sit back, enjoy the stories,
and try not to give Aunt Leanne any opportunities to tease me or play
matchmaker.
I was mostly successful in that mission right up until I
made the fateful decision to go into the kitchen to make sure Dillon was doing
okay after having to say goodbye to Violet; and to share a round of goodnight
hugs with Miranda, Jacob, and the rest of my friends. It’s a good thing that we were one of the
last groups of customers leaving the Inn by
then; and that Michael wouldn’t have to get teased for long before he’d be able
to escape and go home.
There’s no way I could sit here now and write that I wasn’t
thrilled with his reaction to seeing me tonight. I’d already hugged Stephanie, Jake, and
Dillon by the time he walked into the main kitchen from the back room, and
while he wasn’t at risk of dropping dishes or anything; he did stop dead in his
tracks and lose track of several long moments while staring at me. That earned him a hug; which ended up being
at least as tweeird for me as it probably was for him.
Note to me – for the next however long it takes, use extreme
caution when choosing hugging targets.
Tonight’s lesson came courtesy of the combination of new underwear,
satin shirt, and another cashmere sweater that combined to make that hug with
Michael very pleasantly uncomfortable.
I am not crossing over!
Repeat as often as necessary!
Since Michael was still more than a little dazed and
unresponsive by the time I’d finished the rest of the hugs with his parents and
Rebecca, I wasn’t surprised when Miranda had to pass that little news flash on
to my family; and she and Aunt Leanne spent a few minutes teasing me about it
before we headed home. Regardless of the
tweeird factor, that little memory was worth getting teased over; so I just
went along with it and had fun too.
Grandma and Grandpa were tired, but still used to a
different time zone, so they came home with us so we could talk with them for
another hour or so; and do the bedtime story with Ethan and Ehlana. Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne stopped in too,
and Aunt Leanne had time for a little bonus teasing directed my way while we
made up hot drinks for everyone before moving into the living room. it was wind down time after that, and though
I’d thought about starting my usual nightly studies after coming up to bed, the
lack of sleep from last night has caught up with me; and I don’t have a few
more hours of play time left in me.
When I think about it, this entire week has had a lot of
strange moments mixed in with all of the fun.
We didn’t get anything even remotely close to the warm Spring weather
we’d been hoping for a week ago Friday when it had been so beautiful, but we’ve
still managed to have a really great holiday anyway. I’m probably in the minority of kids and
teens who are excited about going back to school in the morning, but then we
only have a four day week anyway before the Easter holiday; and there’s sure to
be a lot of holiday themed fun to go along with the regular work.
There could be some tween drama in my immediate future too,
but I’m really not all that worried about it even though I wish that Lisa
wasn’t upset with me – or with Michael because of me. I’m too tired to think about that tonight;
and might even be exhausted enough that I won’t be kept awake thinking about
that hug with Michael either.
I am not crossing over; and I will not dream of cute, cuddly
boys – BUNNIES!
Until next time, this is Magi Master Cassie Proctor; logging
out!
